Spatial or three-dimensional views of objects to be examined are a major component of diagnostics in medical engineering and are of great importance for the planning and execution of medical interventions. The improved capabilities for analyzing complicated structures within an object to be examined provided by spatial presentation reassure patients and reduce the time spent in planning and undertaking medical interventions. A spatial presentation is of particular advantage for vessel systems to allow a better overview to be obtained. A plurality of different methods for creating a three-dimensional image of an object to be examined is currently known.
Such methods include 3D x-ray systems, especially computer tomography and C-arm systems, magnetic resonance tomography, 3D ultrasound, etc. With currently known x-ray methods which can be employed for interventional treatments it is not possible to examine areas which are larger than the x-ray bundle used for penetrating the object under examination.
Patent application DE 101 40 862 B4 discloses a medical x-ray examination device with a pedestal, with a guide rail mounted on the pedestal, with a first carriage mounted on the guide rail and able to be moved along it, with an x-ray imaging system mounted on the first carriage, and with a patient support device. A second carriage mounted on the guide rail and able to be moved along said rail, on which the patient support device is mounted via an outrigger arm, allows the number of possible x-ray examinations to be increased and makes the system more user-friendly for those operating it.
A method for reconstruction of 3D image data relating to a volume of interest of an object to be examined is known from application DE 199 62 666 A1, in which a plurality of 2D central projections is obtained from different projection directions by means of a flat-panel detector and rays emanating from an a x-ray source. The disadvantage of this method is that only a restricted area can be investigated during an examination, said area being limited by the size of the flat-panel detector. Examination areas which have dimensions larger than the spatial extent of the x-ray bundle used can only be covered by executing an examination a number of times and then going through the tedious process of combining the results.